About:

Luis F. Ayala is Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Associate Department Head for Graduate Education, and holder of the Energi Simulation Chair and Fustos Family Professorship in Energy and Mineral Engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. His research activities focus on the areas of multiphase well performance, natural gas engineering, unconventional reservoir analysis, and advanced numerical modeling. He holds two engineering degrees (both with summa cum laude honors), one in chemical engineering and another in petroleum engineering from Universidad de Oriente (Venezuela), and MS and PhD degrees in petroleum and natural gas engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. He has received the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award and Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching and from The Pennsylvania State U., Outstanding Technical Editor Awards from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), a Presidential distinction for Academic Excellence from Venezuela, and is former Editor-in-Chief of a SPE flagship magazine and currently a member of a number of SPE committees and editorial boards in petroleum and natural gas engineering journals.

Research Projects:

Ayala’s research group conducts research in the area of natural gas engineering with emphasis on numerical modeling of unconventional natural gas plays, long-term production performance analysis of tight and shale gas reservoirs, rate-time decline analysis of natural gas reservoirs, and hydrocarbon thermodynamics and its interplay with reservoir flow systems. Dr. Ayala is actively involved in the study of performance non-conventional natural gas reservoir sources, particularly in hydrocarbon production from gas shales and retrograde, liquid-rich gas-condensates in ultra-tight reservoir environments. Dr. Ayala’s current research projects explore the underlying physical factors that control multiphase transport and flow dynamics in these complex natural gas reservoir systems. Some specific projects explore the influence of thermodynamic properties, and interfacial, surface and capillary effects on multiphase fluid flow in these ultra-tight unconventional reservoir environments. Ayala’s research group seeks an improved quantitative understanding of multiphase fluid flow in nano-pore reservoirs that can lead to a significantly improved predictive capability of large-scale numerical simulators—which are the foundation of reservoir modeling and production forecasting.